Animal Cruelty (Jolly the Shihtzu)

Do you believe in fate?

I definitely do.

I don’t usually look at the Lost & Found page on Facebook, unless someone I know has lost a dog. However, last night (Saturday), I happened to look at my Facebook and the first thing that appeared was a photo of a very badly matted Shihtzu, found by a guy by the name of Fabian Ang. He had commented on Facebook that he would bring the dog to the vet the next day to scan for a microchip.

This was the post that started it all

I happened to be not too far away so I offered to go down with my microchip scanner and save him the trouble of bringing her to the vet the next day. It was 11.30pm but he agreed for me to go over as there was a family there to verify if it was their lost Shihtzu that went missing sometime in June.

I scanned the dog and unfortunately, the microchip number did not match theirs.

At the lift lobby scanning the microchip

While we were talking, I noticed that the dog was rather listless and her breathing was shallow. I suggested we take her to the emergency vet right away. Fabian kindly offered to come along.

How our hearts hurt just looking at her

On the way to the vet, I found out from Fabian that he had found the dog at about 8+pm and the dog was left outside his door step. His dog had started barking, so he opened the door to check and found the lifeless Shihtzu right in front. He took the dog in – she was covered with pee and poo and smelled so bad. Her fur was badly matted and her nails were so long it grew sideways. He gave her a quick bath, dried and fed her. The dog took a while before she started eating, drinking and even managed a poo.

She hardly moved in the car

How did the dog end up outside his door step and it wasn’t a ground floor unit. Whoever who brought the dog all the way up had deliberately taken the lift up and probably knew Fabian had a dog and would help this dog.

Waiting to see the vet

At the vet, we did the basic checks as it was after hours and the emergency charges weren’t cheap.
The vet had listened to her heart and lungs but her fur was so thick and badly matted, she could hardly hear through all that fur. Typical of this breed, she had very dry eyes and her eyes were so dry that there was scarring on her eyes and the vet reckoned her vision might be only about 20% or so.
Her gums were red and sore, she had gingivitis. Her nails were so long that she could hardly walk.
Today during the vet’s normal hours, we will do some blood tests to find out her kidney & liver functions, and also check for tick fever and heartworm. We have asked the vet to help clips her nails as well.

What did evil humans do to her?

Such a painful sight

Vet checking her eyes

Poo stuck on her fur

Nails so long it curled sideways

The vet noticed a long scar on her belly while shaving her - what was that scar for?

We have reported this case to the relevant authorities and will update more on this poor dog’s condition when we have more information.

For now, the vet has named her Jolly because I had named her Shihtzu 😊

We would like to thank Fabian for being so kindhearted and taking her in to clean and feed her. Let’s hope she pulls through this.

Thank you Fabian for helping Jolly

If you would like to help with Jolly’s vet bill or have information on this dog, please email hopedogrescue@singnet.com.sg. Thank you.

Written by Fiona

Duke

Last Saturday, we saw an injured senior dog living in an abandoned factory. He had abrasions on the right side of his body and was limping in agony. We just had to get him to the vet.

Watch his rescue here.

The next day, Sunday, our dedicated volunteers again went down to look for him, this time with towels, leashes and a carrier, to trap him.

He snapped at us a few times but who wouldn’t, if a total stranger caught you! Perhaps it was his age, the amount of pain he was in, or he was actually a sweet dog deep down inside, but he didn’t put up much of a struggle. Maybe he was happy to be caught, after having lived on the streets for a decade, he was tired; every day was a day of survival, trying to escape traffic and searching for food.

The vet’s initial examination revealed he was severely dehydrated, blood pressure was very low and white blood count was very high, possibly from infection and inflammation, but otherwise, his organs were all perfect and he was even tested negative for heartworm and tick fever.

He has abrasions on his right side and a broken left hind leg, fractured in many places. His right eye has a mass and his left eye is blind. The vet estimates him to be at least 10 years old. He is skinny but he is a huge dog. He weighs 28kg on his thin frame.

Was he beaten by someone? Or was he a victim of a hit and run, like most strays?

He is now warded while we try our best to raise fund and make decisions.

The vet has given us two options :

Amputation $2500
Try to repair his femur fracture $4800

And then we have to worry about the costs of being warded, medication, follow ups and reviews, looking for a foster etc Rescuing a dog isn’t easy; neither does it come cheap. It is a long process of worries.

We will provide more updates when we can. Meanwhile he is resting at the vet and they say he is a gentle giant.

We have named him Duke. Please help Duke.